I Don't Love You
by LindyL
Summary: What would've happened if someone else had confessed to 'Saga-senpai' before he did? - I'm sorry, but this story has been dropped.
1. Confession

**A/N:**

**Hey, this is my first fanfiction (on here anyway.).  
I'm the kind of person to go, 'what if?' and then this came to mind. I hope you like it. :)**

* * *

I entered the library quietly, despite the fact that there were barely any people there.

Yesterday, I saw senpai return a book. I think it was th-.  
Ah. Senpai.  
He's right there. I quickly go into the next aisle. I peeked at him from a gap in the shelf. There was somebody else there. She had loose pigtails; both resting on her front.

"Saga-kun," her blush was evident, "will you go out with me?".

"I-I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to..." she murmured "b-but that's obvious, haha...". She laughed nervously.

At that moment, I was starting to feel possessive.  
He had to say no, right? I mean, I-

"...okay."

What? I misheard him, right?  
I kept trying to convince myself that. But I knew it happened.  
I wish that it was me.  
It came like a punch to the stomach. Senpai isn't mine. And he won't ever be mine. He doesn't even know me. We're both men, damn it! And he's probably straight.

* * *

After that, I had decided not to follow him anymore. But here I am, after school, following him home. The rain was light, but it was steadily getting heavier. Despite that, he was walking slowly, holding his bag over his head.  
He stopped in his tracks.  
Crap. Did he notice me?  
I turned around to hide behind something. Anything. I slowly turned my back, as if I was always walking in that direction. I hid behind a corner.

Then I heard a soft sound cutting through the rain. A cat. Senpai had picked up a cat which used to be in a cardboard box. I knew I shouldn't be in love with him, but that just made me want him even more. He took the small black cat and tucked it under his coat to keep it dry.  
I turned around and dashed into the rain, my hand loosely gripped around the umbrella handle. I don't care if he saw me.  
I ran home, to be greeted by my mother. She was making dinner, but concern spreaded across her face as she saw me. Soaking wet. But I had an umbrella.

"Ritsu! Why are you all wet?"

I ignored her and ran up to my room. I quickly stripped off the wet clothing and let the tears fall. My face was planted into the pillow. I know that I should just be happy that senpai's happy, but I just can't. I feel like a horrible person, hoping that they'd break up.

Day after day, I'd still be following him around. They were still going out.

I'm not sure if he had ever noticed me, but I'm sure he has.

* * *

Senpai had eventually graduated. The whole school was required to be at an assembly, where all the names were called out. And then they'd stand on the stage.  
The majority of the school hated this event. Even those who were graduating, as this would take up a few hours.  
I was waiting for his name to be called out. But then her name was called out.  
Mizuno Nana.

The girl with the loose pigtails.

What is this feeling?  
Jealousy?

An-chan confessed to me. It was after school, a few days after the start of my third year of high school. It was on a staircase. It was right after my parents brought up my engagement, which I politely refused. It didn't come as a shock, this. I knew she was in love with me, yet...  
I would never bring it up. I had never confronted her about this. I felt somewhat bad because I think that gave her an illusion that I loved her. I looked directly into her eyes.  
I told her I was in love with someone else.  
I couldn't imagine going out with her, she was more like a sister. She rarely brought it up after that. My parents were a different story.

* * *

It's been a few months after that. I'm going to be studying abroad.  
If anyone had asked me why, I'd say that it's a good opportunity to learn about a different country and their customs, some made up crap like that.

But of course it was a lie. I went away because I wanted to forget about him.

Saga Masamune.

I love you.


	2. Pigtails

**A/N: Hi. I'm back.  
****I asked a friend of mine to beta my story, and to my surprise, she said yes.  
****She didn't specify what she wanted to be called, so I'm calling her Rosie Posie. Thanks Rosie-tan. :)**

**Thank you all for the reviews, now I really want to write more. ^.^**

* * *

A sudden jolt woke me up, and my head snapped up. A voice rang through the intercom, "the next stop is..."

Oh crap! My stop was almost here. I cringed. Why was I dreaming about high school? I threw the strap of my satchel over my overcoat and walked off the train, annoyed with myself. I definitely could not be thinking about that kind of stuff right now. I unconsciously stormed out of the station, my scarf dragged along because of my fast walking pace. I got a few funny looks, then I realised I was literally stomping. Haha...I hoped nobody I knew noticed. I checked my phone; one new message. I opened it. The LED man on the pedestrian crossing light turned green. I walked among a bustle of people. However I walked too fast and got a faceful of back.  
"Ahh, I'm so sorry!" I apologised. He turned around and I swear he looked half dead. There were bags under his dark, coffee-coloured eyes. He didn't really seem to notice me. I mean, he saw me, but he barely even acknowledged me. How rude.

He disappeared into the crowd.

The doors opened automatically, revealing a front desk with two girls sitting there. A buzz of chatter could be heard and the girls automatically straightened up when they noticed I was there. I walked up to the desk and placed a sheet of paper on it.

"Um, I'm Onodera Ritsu. I'm her-"

"Oh yes!" cried one of the girls, suddenly standing up.

"Aaah, where are the papers!" the other girl murmured while looking through a thick stack of paper. "Ah, found it!" She seemed quite excited at the event of finding them. She led me to a room, not far from the front door. I was seated directly across her. The other girl was staring daggers in her back, most likely unhappy at the prospect of going through all that paperwork.

"So, Onodera Ritsu, a new editor for shojo manga, Emerald department?" she asked, cheerfully.

Eh? Shojo manga?

"No, I'm sure I discussed in the interview that I was an editor for literature in my previous company and I wanted to stay in that field.." I said, fading out after she pulled out a piece of paper.

"No, it says right here: Mid Career Recruitment of Onodera Ritsu into the Shojo manga department."

I sunk back into my seat, defeated. She stood up and motioned for me to follow her. I did and entered an elevator. On the walls of the elevator there were posters of their published works, framed and in glass cases, possibly plastic.

"Um, wouldn't it be weird?"

She looked at me as if she was asking 'what do you mean?'

"I mean, a guy editing shojo manga?" I questioned.

"Oh no, you'll fit right in. All of our editors are male," she told me, flashing a quick, reassuring smile at me.

Male? All of them?

The girl walked out of the elevator and I followed her. I thought I smelled something bad, but it was probably just my imagination creeping up.

"So this is the Emerald editing team at Maru-"

She was cut short. What was it? I walked past her as one of the dividers was blocking my view. What I saw was probably something similar to a dump.  
Papers were strewn everywhere, mixing in with pieces of trash. Things resembling dead bodies were lying on chairs. One of them was even smiling, which was slightly unsettling. The stench emanating from the place wasn't pleasant either.  
I turned around to look for the girl for some help, but she had disappeared. Or run off, most likely. I wouldn't want to be here either.  
I tried to get help from someone else, not sure what to ask though. They quickly brushed past me as if they regarded the people at Emerald as freaks. Or they didn't want to approach them when they were like this.

I had no choice. I had to approach them. I slowly tread through the trash as if I would awaken some kind of monster, or if somebody was buried under the mess. I decided to walk to the front, where a man had a book over his face. He seemed conscious, for the most part. I think I heard about him, Takano or something.

"Er, I'm the new guy who is starting today. I'm Onodera Ritsu," I stated, not sure about whether the guy was conscious anymore.

I was about to turn away when he groaned and slid the book from his face. He suddenly straightened up and then I got a clear look at his face.

Oh. It's the half-dead zombie guy. Except he had glasses on. He glanced at me and immediately began typing on his computer.

"So what kind of manga did you work on in your last company?"

"Ah, I've always worked on literature."

He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he held it back. "I suppose we'll get someone to show you the ropes," he said, somewhat indifferent to the situation.

I stood there for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. He shut the lid of his laptop and bundled up some papers. He signalled for me to follow him. We entered an elevator, which thankfully, was empty.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"Meeting an author."

And so we did. We were seated in a booth with seats connected to each other, leaving only one side of the table exposed. Of course I was sitting in the middle. Takano-san and the author were directly opposite each other. This manuscript is four days late. The hell are you doing, making her re-write it?  
The rest of the day consisted of me going 'what the hell?' at the methods the editing team produce manga, but the methods seemed to work, so I couldn't really question them.

It was around nine or ten when we had completed everything. Being an editor was so tiring. You ran around all day, screaming at your authors to finish their manuscript, yelled into phones trying to extend deadlines. I'd been reading a few volumes of shojo manga and my brain began turning pink. I hadn't noticed that everybody had left. I gathered my crap and went down to the first floor so I wouldn't miss the last train.

Hm? Takano-san's still here? He wore a coat - probably leaving soon. He was talking to a woman. I overheard their conversation as I went out.

"Hey, Mizuno. I can't go over tonight."

"Eh? Why not?" she pouted. "and call me Nana!"

"I have other stuff to do." he said, nonchalantly. The woman groaned.

Mizuno... Nana.  
The girls with the pigtails. She still looked similar to her high school self. Now she was possibly dating my boss. Why did she have to date him if they broke up some day?  
Feelings of jealousy and hatred bubbled up, but I toned them down.  
'It's none of my business who she dates, I don't really care,' I lied to myself.  
I spent the night reminiscing of high school. I felt old. I wondered where senpai is now.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter. I'm gonna try and update at least once a week (but that's never gonna happen because I procrastinate too much).**  
**But really, thank you guys so much.**  
**See you sometime soon. Hopefully in a week.**


	3. Let's Welcome the New Guy

**Bonjour. I am back. I hate tests. I almost failed drama.  
Merci beaucoup to my beta, Rosie-tan.  
How are you?  
Good? Good.  
Bad? Aw, hope you feel better.**

**I'm currently on a two week break, so I might be able to write more. Yay. (****_might)._**

**Hope you enjoy this. :D  
Sorry for this short-ish chapter.**

* * *

**Onodera POV:**

Today, when I got to work, it was arguably one of the most terrifying things that had ever happened there. The abstruse change of decor was somewhat amazing; so much pink. I would like to know who actually cleans the place up. I was one of the last people to leave work and arrived soon after everyone. I suppose it would always be a mystery. Three mildly attractive men stood before me, letting off a strange aura. Two were smiling, while the other had a poker face. They introduced themselves and the smaller one apologized. 'Sorry for neglecting you, Ricchan!'.

Ricchan, huh?

I placed myself on a chair, my desk adjacent to Kisa-san's.

"Hey Ricchan, do you have anything planned for tonight?" Kisa-san said, suddenly. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I felt as if everybody was now looking at me. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Nothing in particular..." I'd been planning to unpack the rest of my stuff, as I had just moved in, but I could do that later.

"In that case, we're gonna go out for drinks later to welcome the new guy!" he said, cheerfully.

"Um, I-" I protested

"It's decided." interrupted Mino-san.

"After work." Hatori-san added.

Takano-san remained silent.  
My left eye twitched. I'm only going to be here for a few weeks, then I'm going to transfer to the literature department, definitely.

* * *

**Takano POV:**

"Hey Ricchan, do you have anything planned for tonight?"

My head snapped up. It's the 'Welcome the New Guy' plan. It had become a tradition here at Emerald. We go out for drinks. When people get drunk, or semi-drunk, they might blabber about stuff they would not had said, had they been sober. Why we do this, you ask?  
'To get to know them better!' is what we usually say. Hell no. The actual reason was to get dirt on them, so we can threaten them with the information that we now have against them. We only do this for work related purposes, of course. Luckily when I was subject to this plan, I could hold my liquor. However, they managed to squeeze information out of me by other means. No harm comes from this, really. Of course, we make sure they get home safely.

The day passed by uneventfully as it was only the beginning of the cycle. Mino and Kisa showed the currently useless newbie how to do some of the basics while Hatori was talking on the phone with one of his authors. I resisted the urge to throw things at him (however failing roughly half the time) due to his ignorance of the workings of shojo manga.

6pm arrived quickly.

Kisa led the way, half-dragging the newbie to the location. I stayed at the back, I didn't know where we were going. Not that anyone else but Kisa, either. Hatori was talking to someone on the phone, sounding frustrated. A few minutes had gone by and Onodera was making pointless chatter with Kisa and Mino - no longer being dragged. We'd turned a corner past a bookstore, heading in the direction of the red light district. We turned another corner to find a bar, with a friendly sort of feeling. That is, until we got closer. Loud voices erupted and obnoxious laughing followed by sounds of items being thrown across the wall seeped through the walls. Everybody immediately cringed. I'd much rather stay away from places like that. I turned on my heel.

"...There's a place around here that I know." The place was somewhere in the red light district. I had stumbled across it with Mizuno after a particularly difficult break-up. They followed me and I stopped in front of the place.

"Can we go somewhere else?" Kisa said, somewhat weakly. He looked at the sign of the bar uneasily. It was a gay bar. So what?

"Do you know a better place?"

He stayed quiet.

We were seated at the back, due to Kisa's request. The four of them went to the table while I went up to the bar to get some drinks. I caught the bartender's attention. Before I got to tell him what I wanted, he interrupted me.

"So you and your friends are Shouta's new boytoys?" He sneered, a look of disgust on his face.

"Shut up and just get me five beers." I replied, coolly. He glared at me and turned to pour the drinks. Onodera had walked up to carry some of the beers over.

"Um.."

"Just ignore him."

"O-okay." I squinted my eyes and looked at him. I peered closely at his face, making him blink rapidly in succession.

"Do I know you fr-"

"Five beers for the two kissing in front of the bar." The bartender said, rudely as he slammed the last glass on the table, nearing spilling some of it. It caught a few people's attention. I swiftly turned my back on him after grabbing a few glasses and Onodera uneasily followed. I slid into the other side of the table, one was occupied by the other three. Kisa had returned to his happy-go-lucky mood. Everybody quickly reached for a glass.

"Cheers!" we all said, cheerfully. Well, Mino and Kisa. Everybody had sort of mumbled it. I raised the rim of the glass to my lips.

"So, Onodera-san, where did you work before? Just curious." Mino said with his usual smile plastered on his face.  
I peered at Onodera while I sipped some beer from the glass.  
It has begun.


	4. Stalker

**I-I finished it. My holiday started a week ago and I have done nothing productive. Thanks so much to Rosie Posie. **

**Disclaimer:(luckily) I don't own SiH.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

**Takano POV:**

Oh. So he's this type of drunk. All that came from his mouth was incoherent, slurred rambling with the occasional insult thrown in there. So far, we have found out barely anything important or of value.

"And then there's this guy!" he glared and pointed at me, "What the hell? Acknowledge someone when they bump into you!" he whined, much logic and reasoning now absent from his words.

The four of us made eye-contact that said something along the lines of 'We should go now.' But before anybody else could say anything,

"Hey Onodera, tell us one of your deepest, darkest secrets; one you would especially not tell your co-workers." I told him, sarcastically. The fact that he actually reacted to that was somewhat baffling. He suddenly became quiet and looked down. He was rambling a few seconds ago, so I probably did something. Crap, what did I do?

"O-once I fell in love when I was in junior high," he sucked in a deep breath. Kisa who had been absent-mindedly stirring his mug of beer for the past twenty minutes suddenly looked interested.

"and I stalked him an-and then one day," There was an unspoken agreement that if anything gets too personal, we stop. Naturally, everybody was curious about the finer details. We'd probably force him to tell the rest later.

"this Mizuno girl she-" Mizuno? This story is starting to sound familiar. I opened my mouth to ask another question.

He reached for another mug of amber coloured liquid courage. Tori quickly snatched it out of his reach.

"I think it's time to stop."

"Oyyyy- Hatori-san~, gimme it!" he slurred, switching back to obnoxious drunk mode whilst attempting to grab the glass.

"Oi, Onodera," I pressed, "what sch-"

"Takano-san, would you take the pleasure of getting this guy home?" Tori interrupted, putting on his suit jacket. I don't know where he lives. Ask someone else.

"Yeah, I suppose I'll do it."

He definitely can't be him. Oda isn't the same as Onodera. He never mentioned anything about books or anything. Then again, maybe he did. Like I said, his rambling was incoherent. The drinks were already paid for so the three sober men threw on their coats. They all left with a 'see you tomorrow, Takano-san' or something like that. I sighed and looked down at the smaller man, now supporting himself on my frame.

"Yeah, so where do you live?" I asked, dragging his body outside of the bar, throwing a dirty look at the bartender because he was a douche. After a few seconds without an answer, I said it again. Then I realized he had fallen asleep.  
Tch. Fall asleep after you give someone your address. It would be too late to go back to the office and get some papers. I would attract too much attention if I was carrying a passed out smaller, younger guy on a train. I suddenly wanted to shout in his ear to wake him up. I quickly hailed a taxi to my apartment. The taxi driver probably had his theories about what he thought was going on. Then again, I don't care what he thinks. A few minutes into the ride with Onodera sleeping peacefully in the back seat, I pulled out my phone and called Mizuno.

"Hey Mizuno, would you help with watching over a passed out drunk guy?"

"Huh? It's almost 12, you know." Wow, she was still awake. Then again, that was normal. She sounded more curious than annoyed that I was calling.

"Yeah, I know," I said, uncomfortable at the thought of someone else in my apartment, "I'll make you breakfast."

Mizuno always said, 'how the hell can you cook better than me?!'.

"Deal. I'll be there in thirty." she said, hiding her excitement. She hung up and I slid my phone back into my pocket.  
Anyway, what the hell am I doing, letting a guy I knew for less than two days into my place? I'm making this asshole sleep on the couch.

The remainder of the ride in the taxi was silent.

**Onodera POV:**

Just where the hell was I? The design of the building was familiar, but the furniture and placement of the sofa was different. Oh, shit! Did I accidentally wander into the wrong apartment in my drunken stupor? I tried to get up, but was stopped by a throbbing in my head I hadn't noticed seconds before. My hand went to my forehead while I laid in that position for a few minutes before someone came in.

"Aaah! Pig-tail girl!" I instinctively said, "no wait, I'm sorry for whatever I did last night!"

"Hehe." She giggled. I felt a vein pop at the back of my eye. Just what the hell happened last night?

"Pigtail girl?" she questioned. "I haven't had my hair in pigtails since high school," she scoffed.

Um. How was I supposed to explain this? 'Because you stole my boyfriend-to-be from me from high school!' was what I wanted to say. "Uh, you looked familiar," I replied lamely.

"Oh is that so?" a deeper voice said, coming from a room nearby. Oh God, who else lived here? A cat? I must be going mad...cats don't talk.

"T-takano-san!" I exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, you idiot."

"Eh?" Takano lived here? With her?

"And about that stalker incident in high school," he pressed, both of them cornering me now, "please do tell me more of it."

What kind of stuff did I say when I was drunk? I didn't remember telling them that. No shit. I remembered I was heavily drunk. "P-please regard that as a drunk man's rambling," I told them as I quickly snatched my belongings, which were conveniently placed by the sofa. I bowed slightly and went out the door. "Thank you for taking care of me when I was drunk. I will go now!" I said, panicking.

"Oi, Onodera!" I heard as the door closed.  
I frowned, taking in my surroundings. This corridor looked familiar. So did the window. And also the number plate next door. I barely noticed the other door opening as I gaped blatantly at the other door. I slowly walked towards it and unlocked it.

"Oh? So you're my neighbour?" Takano-san said, a mix of annoyance and sarcasm in his voice.

"Um...I...uh..." I stuttered, not knowing what to say. "I'LL BE GOING NOW!" I shouted as I entered my apartment, quickly slamming the door in relief.

"Hey, Masamune. What was that about?" I heard a female voice ask.  
It was going to be an awkward day at the office, then. I don't want to leave my apartment. Because then 'that' was going to be outside. My stomach hurt. I was going to call in sick. But then Takano-san will probably barge into here and make sure that I was actually sick.

I...I needed to move.


	5. Elevators Suck

**Hi. I'm back again (This time, a few days earlier than I'd expected. Can't believe I'm actually doing anything productive). Merci beaucoup to all my readers and my beta, who now has a account, RosiePosieRW. But yeah, thanks for the support. :)  
We had chats about killing off Mizuno (well, more just Rosie-tan talking about it) but nope, she's not gonna die. Yet. Maybe. Haha. No. Okay I'll go now. Bye.**

**Enjoy. :)**

* * *

**Onodera POV:**

I have to leave this apartment eventually, don't I? 'Eventually' being very soon. It took all of my courage to open the door and get out of my apartment. I quickly scanned the corridor of any signs of Takano-san. None. I sighed in relief and walked over to the elevator. I pressed the button, waiting for the elevator to arrive. I quickly stepped in and pressed '1'.

"Oi, hold the door. I'm getting on too." A hand snaked round the side of the door and grasped it, keeping from shutting entirely, before I could force the doors shut.

"Oh, good morning," I muttered barely audibly, to the other man. I mentally slapped myself. Why couldn't I have left later?

"Good morning," he replied, louder. He glanced at me. Come on, move, elevator. The elevator was moving at an almost painfully slow velocity. Floor seven, six, fi-

The elevator had stopped. I expected the doors to open so someone else from a different floor could get on. It didn't. A sense of impending doom came to me. The doors weren't going to open. I immediately thought about the man who was stuck in an elevator for forty-one hours and I stood, frozen in fear. I snapped out of it, what the hell am I thinking? People are going to notice our absence, right?

"Um Takano-san..." I said, to fill the silence and to state the obvious. He'd already reached forward to press the 'help' button, or whatever it's called.

"I'm gonna call the office." he said, as if this didn't affect him in any way. "We're at the beginning of the cycle so we should be fine."

"Oh. Okay," I said weakly. But why did he have to be in here as well? It would be much more bearable if I didn't know him. I didn't even know why. Oh yeah. Because he pisses me off.

"Aw, crap!" he suddenly said, jolting me out of my thoughts. "There's no reception in here."

"But since other people are going to use this elevator, we'll get out soon, right?" I added, trying to reassure myself more than Takano-san.

"I guess." Takano-san yawned and sat, leaning on the corner of the elevator. How could he be so calm about this? Shouldn't you be panicking and going, 'Ahh, we're gonna run out of oxygen!', or something? I eventually slid down and crouched in another corner.

Forty-five minutes had passed, each second ticking away slowly. Had he really been staring at the elevator door for all this time? None of us had said a word since we sat down. The silence was loud and unbearable, reaching into every single corner and crack in the elevator. But even if I had said something, what would I say? I cleared my throat.

"So.. how long you think we'll be here?" I forced out of my mouth. He looked at me, probably because I broke the silence.

"Who knows? Probably a few hours."

"Ah, yes... probably."

"So, about last night..." I stiffened up and put on a fake smile.

"W-what about it?" I asked, forcing laughter.

"I don't think I got to ask you this, but what school did you go to?"

Huh? Why would he want to know that. I gave him the name of the school and he replied with a 'oh really?'. What was I supposed to do? Ask him as well? Well, I can't really do that since twenty seconds had already passed and it would be awkward to ask him now.

"So Mi- that girl... is she your girlfriend or a roommate?" I asked, genuinely interested. Crap, I had almost said Mizuno. Wait, isn't that sort of a strange question to ask him? He yawned, possibly bored by the conversation. Gee, thanks.

"Nope. A friend. Well, we did used to go out in high school but it didn't work out. At all." he shifted his position to face me. "And please, tell me about your relationships." He rested his chin on his hand. What the hell was this? Elevator confessions with your boss?  
Wait a minute. What did he say? 'We used to go out in high school'. I slowly put the pieces together. Wait...that means...no way. No way in hell. Is that Mizuno Nana even the same one? But she mentioned pigtails. After a few seconds of internal debate, I decided to drop the bomb.

"So?" Takano said, waiting for me to answer.

"D-did your name used to be 'Saga Masmune'?" I questioned quietly, facing down. Silence filled the room again. Shit, did I offend him or something? I quickly turned to him to apologize. "Ah, wait, I'm sor-"

"Yeah. Yeah it was." he said nonchalantly. Pause. "And how exactly would you know that?"

Oh shit, I needed to make up an excuse fast.

"Um - uh, I had a chat with Mizuno-san," I lied blatantly.

"How do you know her name?"

"S-she told me, why else?" I lied yet again, looking to the left.

"Liar," he accused. He narrowed his eyes "You...just who the hell are you?"

"I'm nobody, and, uh, I'm going to see if there's any reception!" I quickly answered, trying and obviously failing to change the subject. Why did he make me so nervous?

"Stop trying to change the subject," he told me firmly. "Oda Ritsu."

Did I mishear him? "Huh?"

"You're Oda Ritsu. My stalker from high school."

"H-how do you know?!" I exclaimed in shock, giving myself away. Ahh, I wanted to sink into the ground now. I snuck a quick glance at the door. Could I leave if I prised those doors open? A hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Look at me." I'd made eye contact with him, the first time since I met him. Heat crept up my neck, or so I thought.

"Were you in love with me?" he asked, bluntly.

"Hahaha," more forced laughter, "my name is Onodera, not Oda!"

The larger man cleared his throat,

"O-once when I was in junior high, I fell in love with a guy and stalked him-"

"PLEASE STOP." I shouted in embarrassment. Ahh, I vaguely remember saying that. I could feel the heat on my cheeks. Why must I be the type of person who blushes easily?

"Oh, so are you saying that it was true?" This-this asshole is amused. I attempted to keep a straight face, but I'm sure my expression gave me away. He shrunk back to his corner. I let out a breath, I hadn't noticed I was holding it until now.

"I see." he exhaled. So my expression did give me away.

I pulled out my phone, to check for any messages.

"What are you doing?"

"Ch-checking my messages." Why am I stuttering?

"There's no reception down here." Oh right.

"That's true..." I placed my phone into my coat. We sat in a deafening silence for hours. I swear my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

"Are you two alright?" a voice called, one not belonging to Takano-san. I squinted at the bright light. I must've fallen asleep. Why did I feel like I was floating? Where was Takano-san? I tried to get up.

"Oi, quit moving!"

I looked up, to see the face of Takano Masamune staring at me angrily.

"The hell are you doing?!" I shouted in shock. Why am I being carried by him?

"You fell asleep in the elevator, you asshole." I looked around.

"But we're still in it..." I protested, faltering out as I saw those glass framed pictures on the wall. We're in an elevator at work. I looked to the right. With a stranger.

"Forget it! Just let me down!" My feet touched the floor and I felt my face getting hot.

The elevator reached the fourth floor, thankfully not stopping this time. I swiftly walked, not wanting to arrive with Takano-san. I threw myself on my chair, next to Kisa-san's pink floral print chair.

"Hey, Ricchan! Are you okay?"

I gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Your face is all red! And you've been stuck somewhere for a few hours." There was a devious smile on his face. "Oh? Don't tell me you two did it!" The blush on my face darkened yet again.

"Aaah! He's blushing even more!" Kisa teased.

"KISA-SAN!" Why did I have to be seated right next to him?

"Oi, you two get back to work!" Takano-san ordered, a rolled up piece of paper suddenly materialising in his hand. It hit the side of my head.

"Ah sorry, accident," he said, but I was not convinced.

"THAT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT!" I shouted angrily at him.

"Would you two please get to work?" A calmer voice said. Ah, Mino-san. We could always rely on him. Takano-san swiftly went to his chair at the front. As soon as we were out of Takano-san's line of sight, Kisa-san immediately pounded on me.

"So, so? What happened?" Kisa-san pressed and at that, women from the BL department suddenly found themselves in Emerald.

"Yeah, Onodera-san, it sounds interesting," one of the women said, eyes focused directly on mine. Why do I feel like I'm under a predatory gaze?

"I - uh - have to go to the bathroom. Excuse me." I all but ran to the bathroom. I turned on a tap, then turned it off five seconds after. What the hell am I doing here? I need to transfer to the literature department already.

"Oh did you come chasing after me?" said a person, who was most definitely not there five seconds ago. I managed to not scream at him and let out an "of course not." I walked out of the bathroom again, where I was cornered by the women from the BL department.

"So?"

I began to panic. Is this really what it's like working here? Ah, please, someone save me!

"Nothing happened at all." Takano-san said, emerging from the bathroom.

"And this newbie is behind on his work, so if you'll excuse us." He dragged me by my collar.

"Oi, you!" I cried. He let go. "I am perfectly capable of walking on my own," I told him firmly whilst patting down my coat. I turned my head to the other side. I don't want to look at him right now. If I did, I don't know what I would do.

* * *

**Hey guys**

**I would like you all to know that on Sunday, Cindy and I worked on this fanfic for four hours non-stop to get it up and ready for everyone to read. I think that we should give Cindy some credit for updating the story early, shouldn't we? Show her your thanks in a review!**

**Gracias,**

**RosiePosieRW**


	6. Dinner

**Hi! I'm back (did you miss me? No? Okay). Thanks to my beta ****_RosiePosieRW _****for betaing and putting up with my crap, now 5+ days a week. School has started again, which means more homework! (Yay!). Updates may be a little slower, I'll still try to update at least once a week, but it may end up being every fortnight.  
Thank you all for the support, it really means a lot.  
And of course, enjoy!**

* * *

Just because it was Friday didn't mean that everybody would go home. Some would leave in the wee hours of the night or morning, waiting on storyboards, manuscripts or scripts and the such. That could be said for numerous of those poor souls working at Marukawa tonight. Luckily, it wasn't one of _those_ days for the Emerald editing team. The cycle had only started a few days ago, so the office was still filled with stuffed animals, frills and pink, some young girl's fantasy.

"I'll be leaving now," Onodera Ritsu said, heaving a bag over his shoulder and bowing slightly. He carried some papers, he could do those at home so he left quickly. His co-workers that were still working gave him a gruntled wave. He walked over to the elevator. Ugh, _I hate elevators_, he thought bitterly.

He quickly descended to the first floor, to the reception in the empty elevator. As he was getting to the double glass doors, a hand grabbed him by his shoulder.

"Wait a second." A firm voice said.

"Mizuno-san?" The male said, turning around. He was shocked; what was she doing here? Maybe she was waiting for Takano?

"Um, Takano-san is still up there, if you -" he was cut off.

"If I was looking for him, why would I be talking to you?" She sounded pissed. "Come." She roughly grabbed the end of his scarf.

"Oi, I have work to do. Please help me!" he cried out, staring down the receptionists with pleading eyes. They simply smiled at him as if this was some cute lover's quarrel. They weren't going to be of any help, so he turned his head back to Mizuno.

"Hey, I can't breathe so would you mind letting go of my scarf?" he managed to get out of his mouth, which was a proud achievement when someone was strangling you with your own scarf. She did eventually let go, but began dragging the man by his coat arm. He sighed in both relief and exasperation. At least it wasn't by his collar. Sympathetic looks were thrown in his direction, occasional bypassers wondering what the poor sod did to deserve this.

"So..." the brunet murmured, fidgeting in his seat, "what exactly am I doing here?"

"To have dinner with me, why else?" she replied, scrutinizing Ritsu behind her glass. He felt out of place. Sure, this was a casual restaurant but he had come in with his mop of light brown hair sticking in directions he'd never thought was possible. He had faint red marks on his neck from his scarf and the man had looked as if he wanted to cry, earning a few stares from other customers. Mizuno took one look at him, began fawning over him and seemed to completely disregard the fact that she was the one dragged him here and forced him to eat with her.

"I can see that," Ritsu said, getting annoyed, "but why did you have to drag me halfway across the street to do that? And why do you want to have dinner with me?"

"Why, you ask?"

_The answer was going to be 'because I want to!', wasn't it?_

"Because I wanted to have a little chat with you and you never would have decided to come here of your own free will," she said simply, staring straight into his eyes. The first time he saw her face, it had been through shelves in the library. He could see her clearly now, this time, not dazed with sleep or attempting to escape the premises.

Instead of those loose light brown pigtails, both resting on her chest during high school, her bleached hair now barely reached her exposed elbows. For reasons Ritsu could not understand, the woman had decided to wear a short sleeved shirt while it was still cold. Sure, she had a thick coat and all, but Ritsu began feeling slightly concerned about her. He didn't realize that staring deeply into somebody's eyes for an extended bout of time was awkward until he saw that her eyes were a striking blue, emphasized by her eyeliner. She could probably hypnotise someone with those. He averted his own to avoid hers.

"Then just start," he said, trying to keep a scowl from appearing on his face._ So I can leave faster_, he added in his head.

"Excited, are we?" she teased, a smile tugging at her lips.

"I'm not," he huffed. This really was a large inconvenience. He had his own small stack of paperwork to do resting in his satchel. "I just have other stuff to do."

"You'll just have to wait. We're waiting for another person."

The man unknowingly furrowed his eyebrows. "And who is that?"

"A friend of mi-"

_'Speak of the devil._' Mizuno thought.

"Ah! Nana-chan!" a familiar voice rang out. Ritsu racked his brain to find the owner of it. "Huh? Ricchan, what are you doing here?" There were only two people who called him that. Kisa-san and -

"An-chan?" Ritsu exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Do you two know each other?" Mizuno asked, a playful smile on her face as she absentmindedly stirred the liquid in her glass . "What a coincidence."

_Coincidence, my ass!_ Ritsu thought, angrily. He needed a reason to leave. Anything. As he was planning ways to leave without being outlandishly rude, An gracefully placed herself in a seat next to him, a bit too close to the male to be comfortable.

"Mhmm! He's my fiancé!" she replied, cheerfully.

"An-chan! Like I said-"

"You have a fiancé?" Mizuno didn't seemed to be surprised. She said it in more of a teasing voice, it was as if she invited An here for the purpose of getting Ritsu flustered.

An and Ritsu both spoke at the same time: "That's right." "No!"

One would think that after going through situations like these often, Ritsu would be accustomed to them. Unfortunately, he wasn't. "It was actually an arranged marriage, so..." he explained. Wait. Why did he have to explain? He stopped halfway through. An didn't seem put off by his mention of this arrangement.

"Wait, so you're the guy An's been infatuated with for ages now?" Mizuno said, with an element of shock in her voice. She scanned Ritsu from head to toe. The fair-haired woman snorted, not bothering to hide it. That was the excuse Ritsu was looking for. On a normal day, Ritsu would have been offended. Hell, he was offended. But the current task at hand required him to make up some white lie. The task? Escaping this restaurant.

Ritsu stood up and re-wrapped his scarf, previously abandoned along with his bag, around his neck. "If you're just here to laugh at me, then I might as well leave," Ritsu muttered, loud enough for only the two women to hear. The bag slumped beside him, leaning on his side, was now slung over his shoulder. He left enough money on the table to cover for his untouched drink.

"If you have any questions you might as well ask An-chan. She knows me well." When Mizuno began to coax Ritsu into staying, Ritsu bowed and added, "I have work to do. Please excuse me."

His legs carried him out of the restaurant despite An's protests. Initially, he felt a pang of guilt as he left, leaving her there. But they were friends, they could go watch a movie or something together, right?  
There was also no way in hell that Saga was the same as Takano. Judging by the fact that Mizuno and An were close friends, maybe An told Mizuno about Ritsu and his stalker-ish behaviors. Then to mess with Ritsu's head, Mizuno told Takano to act as Saga. And in reality, Mizuno was in fact dating Saga and...

Ritsu sighed at his stupid theory. Even he had a difficult time believing that. As these thoughts swirled around in his head, he instinctively stopped at a bookstore. Ever since starting work again, he hadn't visited any bookstores yet. He'd only returned a few overdue books to the library recently. As he entered Marimo Books, the automatic doors slid open. He went downstairs first, into the manga section. Takano would occasionally reprimand Ritsu about half-assed work, pissing Ritsu off. He really wanted to show that he could do his job so if it meant reading shoujo manga at two in the morning, then so be it.

The store was brightly lit, the amount of shelves and manga almost baffled Ritsu. Then he reminded himself that Marimo Books was of the largest bookstores in the city. As he strolled his way to the shoujo manga section, he had a burning desire to go to another floor, namely the ones with literature. He feverishly shook his head. No, he should do this at least once. Tentatively, he browsed one of the shelves. After a few minutes of tracing his finger alongside the spines of the books, he realized something. He had no idea what he was doing.  
Maybe he could find a salesman or saleswoman or something.  
_Ah, but sometimes they're so scary and hard to approach_, he thought, contemplating whether or not to find somebody when he noticed a few girls at the end of the aisle, muttering and hiding behind books, staring and pointing at something. Or rather someone, as he found out later.

The thing they were pointing to quickly hooked Ritsu's attention. What was so interesting that it made numerous people stare? He brushed by the girls to see what they were staring at. He scoffed. It was a guy. For a second, he was amused at how easily their attention was caught. A few seconds later, he was embarrassed. He had done the same thing for three years. After a minute of self-directed shame, he remembered his purpose here. To buy manga.

Reluctantly, he approached the man. The first thing Ritsu had noticed about him was 'sparkles'. He was almost literally emitting sparkles. The tall man gave off an impression that he was easy to approach. For reasons he could not fathom, he had no desire to go to him. Maybe it was because he reminded him of Saga, even if they had next to nothing in common. He turned his head in both directions to find somebody else, but they were either already occupied with another customer or behind the register. He got closer to him.

"Um, excuse me..." he said in a small voice, half-hoping that he didn't hear him.

"Yes?" the taller man said, spinning around and after spotting the shorter man, "what can I help you with?"

The man waited patiently as Ritsu took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'm sorta new to shoujo manga...and I thought I'd ask you for some recommendations." Ritsu glanced at his nametag, Yukina. At least the tall man had a name now. Yukina's eyes lit up a little and smiled.

"Well, have you read anything by Emerald? The stuff from that magazine is really good," he suggested while his smile lit up more, as if Emerald was one of his favourite magazines.

"I'm actually a new editor for Emerald and I thought I should start by reading some other manga," Ritsu stated, trying not to sound boastful even if he felt a bit of pride because he worked there. Yukina's strong aura of sparkles was now even more evident.

"No way! Really?" he exclaimed. "I'm Yukina, by the way. Yukina Kou."

Ritsu wasn't sure why the man sounded so excited. Shouldn't he be excited if he met the author? He was only an editor, after all.

"Yeah...and I'm Onodera Ritsu." The two of them quickly exchanged business cards.

"Say, do you know a guy called Kisa-san?" he inquired after a few seconds. "I asked him to meet me a while ago..."

"Yeah, I think he's still at the office, sorry." If Ritsu had remembered correctly, Kisa was still at the office, finishing up a proposal. Who exactly was he, anyway. A friend? An acquaintance? Yukina suggested a few manga and artists before Ritsu thought he saw a familiar face walking down the stairs.

"Hey, I think that's Kisa-san..." Ritsu said, prompting the taller man to glance around quickly.

"Ah, thank you. I'll see you around," he said, before calling out Kisa's name. Ritsu, still a bit shocked as to how abrupt that goodbye was, went into the shelves in pursuit of_ Blue Rose_. It was getting late. The brunet slid his hand into his pocket to get out his phone. As he opened it, a message popped up.

_Oi, Onodera. I'm coming over to your place. You better be there._

_~ Mizuno_

How she got his number, Ritsu did not know. Her intentions for chasing him down to his apartment, he did not know either. However, what he did know was that he needed to find another place to stay tonight.


	7. An and Nana

**A/N: Oh god this took longer that I expected. AH'M SORRY! My beta and I had exams and we had to study etc. etc.  
However, we have had the past three days off and one tomorrow, (Queen's birthday weekend and something because of school) so I'll write as much as I can.  
So uh... yeah. My beta, Rosie Posie, thank you for putting up with all my crap and apologizing even though I'm the one who needed to move my ass and write. Merci. :)  
Sorry for the lateness of this chapter and hope you somewhat enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer (I really need to start writing these): I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.**

* * *

The last drops of water falling from the sky had ceased a while ago. The sun came out from its hiding place behind the clouds, with rays of sunlight shining brightly through the cracks. Those rays reached the house of a platinum blonde-haired woman. The blinds were left open, letting the sun hit the bulge in the blankets. Something stirred under them and a slender hand reached out, only to pull them further up. After lying like that for a while, the bulge almost at the verge of falling asleep, a jingly tune rang out. The bulge groaned and suddenly sat up, throwing the blanket into its lap. A woman in her late twenties glared at her phone, vibrating against the dark timber of her nightstand. She was irritated. Before giving her number to anyone, she had warned them not to call before noon.

After a moment of contemplation, she reluctantly snatched up the device resting on the table. She shot a glare that Medusa would envy at the name on her phone. Before she was able to hang up on the call, the tune stopped. She smiled in relief, throwing her phone (gently) back to the table, her head hitting the pillow and getting back into her former position. Unfortunately for her, that peace was short-lived. The tune filled the room again, seconds later. This time, she shot for her phone and answered.

"OI, MASAMUNE. I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME IN THE MORNING!" she shouted into the phone, while another voice said at the same time:

"OI, MIZUNO. I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU FOR THE PAST FIVE MINUTES!"

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CALL ME NANA!" she screamed back, a faint smile on her face. A few seconds of a comfortable silence hung in the air. "Mmm. So what did you need?" she asked, calm now. They've had this argument for the past few years, so it was nothing special.

"I need a favour," the voice replied strongly. Mizuno was slightly taken aback. It was rare for this guy to ask her for anything in this way.

"What does the great Takano Masamune require from me?" she teased, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I need you to find something out." If he heard the sarcasm, he obviously did not care.

Mizuno sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm not some information broker, damnit. Plus, if I do it, what would you give me?"

"Food," the voice replied simply.

She sucked in a short breath. That food he mentioned was delicious. That cocky bastard was a damn good cook. And she couldn't create anything in the kitchen, she had literally burnt ice cream once. Mostly living on takeaways and other miscellaneous unhealthy food items, homemade food was a rare commodity.

"I'm in. What do you want?" she asked sharply, as she swung her legs over her bed and hobbled over to her small bathroom.

"Find out who Onodera Ritsu was stalking in high school."

"Hmmm? Your subordinate? Why do you want to know?"

"...Just curious." Then he hung up, before Mizuno could interrogate him any further. She raised an eyebrow and placed her phone beside her sink. This was yet another thing she could blackmail Masamune about. But first she had to draw up a plan. As she began fiddling with her locks, her phone vibrated again. An eye twitch and a string of curses later, the cool glass was now pressed against her ear.

"What?!"

"Mmm! Good morning, Nana!" a soft voice said, unphased by Mizuno's harsh tone.

"What is it, An? I was sleeping," the blonde mumbled in a more civilized tone. She had a soft spot for this somewhat ditzy girl.

"You're mean. And it's almost twelve, aren't you up yet? Jeez. I just came back from France a few days ago and I wanted to have dinner with you tonight, since I haven't seen you in ages!" Mizuno could picture a cute pout on her face right now. The beginning stages of a grin were beginning to form on her face. A plan was slowly mapping out in her mind.

"Yeah. Meet at the restaurant at...seven? I'll bring a friend," she said carefully, trying to not make herself sound suspicious.

"Which restaurant?"

"Th-that _restaurant_ restaurant!" She blubbered, struggling to recall the name of the restaurant she frequented with An.

"Oh! The restaurant cafe restaurant?"

"Yes!" She sighed, rolling her eyes at the stupid exchange, "I'll see you then, then."

"...So the restaurant cafe restaurant?" An asked, trying to humor Mizuno.

"I'm hanging up now. Bye," Mizuno declared as she hung up. She had a slightly amused smile on her face, and was anticipating An's reaction when she found out what she had in mind. Of course, she knew Ritsu was An's fiancée as she had mentioned it many times in their conversations. And because she was a damn good excuse for an information broker.

* * *

Mizuno muttered incomprehensible things under her breath as she entered the building. Those brats coming into the library, making a racket...ugh, her eardrums were going to pop any minute now. Don't scream in the library; if you're gonna scream, go to the dentist or something! she thought, angrily. She shivered slightly as she waited for Ritsu to arrive. She had forgotten about her promise with her ex-boyfriend-turned-friend. Apparently, it was a great idea to wear a short-sleeved shirt today, in winter. _Good job, Mizuno!_

A large man resembling a bear walked past her. She instantly recognized him as Yokozawa Takafumi, a friend of Masamune's.

"Ah, good evening Yokozawa." The man turned at the sound of his name and his eyes fell on a...close acquaintance, if you would put it that way.

"Good evening," he said flatly, "what brings you here?"

"I'm here to meet a coworker of Masamune's, Onodera Ritsu." she said, simply, forcing herself not to shiver. They tolerated each other, but they would've rather not be together if they had any choice in the matter. This relationship they had was rather rocky. Maybe it was because she had barged into Masamune's apartment after a one month absence to find the two men tangled in each other's arms. She would never know.

A flitter of recognition was apparent in his eyes. "Oh, that new guy in Emerald? I know him," he said, a look of displeasure crossing his face. He rarely warmed up to newbies, so Mizuno disregarded it as a normal face expression for Yokozawa Takafumi. They both said their goodbyes and Mizuno stood beside the reception, somewhat cold because of her lack of warm clothes. She dozed off for a few seconds before noticing that someone had brushed beside her. Her attention was now focused on the man, mumbling an 'excuse me' as he walked past.

"Wait a second," she said, outstretching her arm.

* * *

The woman now sat, slightly dejected at the departure of the brunet. The other girl shot her a smile she thought to be reassuring. It wasn't.

"He's always been like that, Nana-chan," An said. Mizuno was more depressed that she should have been. The source of it was most likely her thirst for knowledge, no matter how trivial it may seem. So she would be able to get what she wanted. And so she could mooch food off of her friends and acquaintances. She flashed an apologetic smile at her. Mizuno could tell by the way that Ritsu carried himself around An, and because of her sharp gaydar, that Ritsu did not see her beyond a friend. Mizuno - she was a blunt woman. She rarely sugar-glazed her words in serious situations.

'Your fiancé is gay and in love with my ex-boyfriend/his boss' is what she would like to say, but..."Hey, An. I don't think he's in love with you," An's expression was unchanged. "Why don't you date me? I'm much more fun," she added, a little bit hopefully. Mainly to lighten the mood.

A light colour tinged the other's cheeks. "Hey, shut up," An muttered, puffing out her cheeks a bit. "I know that. He told me in high school." her expression darkened slightly. " But I just want him to be happy!"

Mizuno placed a hand on An's shoulder, her now being the comforter. "You can't make everyone happy, An, no matter how much you want to." She hesitated a bit before adding, "And he's in love with someone else. I think he'd be more happy if you let him decide who he likes." The part about him being in love with somebody was only a thought.

An stared at Mizuno in shock. How did she know? But she wouldn't lie to her, right? An quickly schooled her face into an expression akin to resignment and sniffed. "Could you do me a favour?"

Oh. Another favour on top of Masamune's. Most of the time she'd ask what it was and more often than not, turned it down. But this wasn't like most of the time. "Yeah."

* * *

**Beta's Note (B/N?):**

**Just want to let all of you guys know, we are SO SORRY that we took so long to update this chapter. Please, no flames, as we had exams and all that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**-RosiePosieRW**


	8. Coffee

**A/N: **Once again, I apologise for how late this chapter is. Inquiries, fandom hopping, and writer's block were some of the factors. But yeah. I got it done. Thank so much for all the support, reviews, favourites, follows and stuff, it does mean a lot to me. I must thank my beta, **RosiePosieRW** she is a god damn saint with that patience.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. If I did, CRACK PAIRINGS GALORE.  
And of course, enjoy.

* * *

The text was sent twenty minutes ago. It took approximately forty minutes to travel from the restaurant to his apartment, if you don't count walking to the nearest station. From his location it would have been half an hour. The man cradled his head in his arms as he tried to think of a place to stay. A hotel? No, he was practically broke since he had only moved in recently. Maybe he could persuade a friend to let him stay at their place for the night. Yes, spending time with a friend was exactly what he needed. Nodding in his mind, he was confident in his place.

Realization dawned on him as he trudged over to the station. His previous apartment was closer to his last work place. And he had literally no close acquaintances who lived near this area, with the exception of An. Maybe, just maybe, if he left Mizuno standing there for a few hours, she would leave. But then...she would probably just stay at Takano's apartment. After a few moments of internal debate, Ritsu sauntered off to find the nearest café. Luckily for him, there was one right beside the bookstore with a homey feeling.

Whilst Ritsu was nursing a cup of coffee, looking over some papers, Mizuno stood shivering outside the apartment door of a certain newbie editor.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself, "why isn't there any heating? I'm freezing to death here!"

"You're still alive though, aren't you?" A voice caught her by surprise. The squeak of her rubber-soled sneakers on the cold, highly polished floor rang through the unidentified man's ears as she stormed towards him. He was bemused as to why the woman was so pissed at his simple observation.

His train of thought was abruptly halted at the exact moment that Mizuno's ice cold hands pressed against his cheeks.

"You really think people who are still alive has hands this cold, Masamune? Huh?!" she cried, slightly hysterical but mostly annoyed. To emphasize her point, her hands were sliding towards Masamune's neck. There was no way she was ever letting him get over the fact that his neck was his weak point. Knowing Mizuno, Masamune instinctively wrapped his fingers around her wrists and pushed them away.

"...if I let you in will you calm down?" Masamune suggested after a brief silence.

"I want tea."

"Of course."

* * *

Mizuno sat in silence as Masamune prepared the tea. There was little noise with the exception of the occasional clink of dishes and rustle of clothing when anyone moved.

"Are you an idiot? It's freezing and you're wearing a t-shirt," he commented dryly.

Mizuno actually had a reason for that, albeit a crappy one. What was she supposed to do when you're in a library with the heating turned up to 30 degrees Celsius? Take off a layer or seven. And then those kids came in. Shouting (maybe not shouting, but loud enough for her to hear) and rearranging the books incorrectly. In general, they were just acting like a bunch of little shits. She promptly left, forgetting her jumper.

"...I have reasons." she muttered weakly and feeling a bit embarrassed. There was no way she was going to tell him what really happened.

* * *

It was a simple process, really. The cafe closes in an hour. Mizuno shouldn't still be waiting outside his apartment, she should be at her home right now - or Masamune's at the very least. Prolonged exposure to winter air usually resulted in hypothermia. And she seemed to have an average (or much higher) level of intelligence, so she wouldn't normally stay out that long.

Feeling confident in his plan, Ritsu cleared the table and organized his papers with ease. He placed them into his messanger bag and swung it over his shoulder. It was time to get going; he shouldn't stay here much longer.

The quietness of the hallway was suspicious. It was too quiet. Where were the sounds of the guy next door doing yoga? The dog barking? The occasional thumping of feet from the people living directly above him? Every step he took resonated through the hallway, and the click of his lock opening made him wince slightly, afraid of what were to come if someone had heard. He knew that nobody was going to attack him or anything, but the seemingly loud creak of his apartment door nearly sent him cowering under the nearby potted plant in the hallway. No one can blame him; it was purely human instinct to want to run away. Or maybe it was paranoia. Same difference, he said to himself.

Dismissing it away as a case of mere instinct, he picked up his courage and stepped confidently, albeit cautiously, into his apartment and quickly switched on the light. Okay, he admitted, I am a coward, definitely - but I am a smart coward. He poked his head out of the apartment, and when he was fully convinced that no one was following him, he slammed the door shut. Kicking off his shoes, he dismissed the damp and slightly muddy footprints his shoes had made on the plastic wood near the entrance, blundered over to the kitchen area and made himself a cup of hot, smoking coffee.

Sighing in pleasure, he sunk himself into the couch. As the delicious aroma of the coffee was beckoning him to have another, Ritsu did nothing but periodically sip the beverage, his mind wandering off to dreamland. Well, it was dreamland until a knocking could be heard from his doorway. A brief silence passed and the knocking became rapping. He fumbled with his cup in surprise. He cursed under his breath; he knew this from experience, spilling hot liquids onto his body usually resulted in unpleasant sensations. Calming himself down by inhaling and exhaling deeply, he trekked over to the door, peeked through the eye-hole and groaned when he saw who it was.

Confronting with Mizuno was the last thing he wanted right now. Exasperatedly, he unlocked the door and was greeted with the image of a young women, goosebumps on her arms though she seemed fine, for the most part.

"Just what have you done to yourself?" he demanded, flying the door open. She wasn't serious, was she? Did she actually stay here for the few hours that he had spent in a warm cafe? But why didn't he notice her earlier as he came in? Ignoring his thoughts, he hurried the woman into his apartment and offered her the other cup of coffee he had been brewing. A small smile crept up on her face as she graciously accepted the coffee and wrapped her hands around the warm cup.

"So tell me. What were you doing outside? Didn't you know that the weather forecast said it would be one of the coldest nights this year?" he scolded, though he knew it was partially his fault.

"I was waiting for you, idiot," she muttered, leaving out that she had heard the door close from Masamune's apartment and came here. She didn't want him to think she was exhibiting stalker-like behaviours. Ritsu almost instantaneously felt a pang of guilt at making her wait. Mizuno taking note of this, she decided to do Takano's favour.

"It was rude to leave abruptly, especially if your fiancé was there," she stated, noting Ritsu's tired expression.

"She's not my fiancé." he said, almost mechanically, as if this was a phrase he had said all too often.

"Why do you say that? Do you not love her?" Mizuno pressed, the coffee left forgotten on the table.

He swallowed. "Not romantically, no."

"Then why don't you man up and tell her that?" she demanded, her voice rising. Her contempt boiling up at Ritsu for dragging her best friend along. Making An think that he loved her.

"I-I," he choked, "didn't want to hurt her," he mumbled quietly, not sure if Mizuno heard him.

Mizuno regained her composure and asked, "Then who are you in love with?"

He swallowed, though it could be considered a gulp this time. "I don't know," he whispered shamefully.

Mizuno had anticipated this answer. She sighed and went for another question, "You're still in love with that guy you stalked, aren't you?"

Ritsu momentarily stiffened before answering by giving one slow nod of his head. It wasn't like she knew who that guy was, so what harm was there in telling her? Mizuno, being the antisocial person she was, had little experience in comforting people, much less someone she had only met a few days earlier. Methods of how to comfort someone went through her head, none seeming good enough.

She placed her arms around him and patted him awkwardly on the back. It could be considered a hug, but neither would admit it. Suddenly remembering the favour from An, she let go of him immediately. He looked for the nearest cup, which happened to be one with coffee.

"An sends her condolences." When asked for a favour by An, she hadn't specifically been told what to do, but An had only wanted Mizuno to tell Ritsu that she'll stop chasing her. For now, anyway. Plus, spilling hot coffee on someone was always something that she had wanted to do for a while now and she knew Ritsu's reaction would be the best.

Making sure that the coffee wouldn't result in any second degree burns, she tipped the cup sideways to let some of the liquid flow out. She smirked at Ritsu's confused look. "I guess this is the part where I profusely apologise?" she asked, not sounding apologetic at all. Ritsu cursed as he cradled his arm. It wasn't going to leave any scars, but it hurt.

"Seriously?!" he cried, confusion turning into annoyance.

"Yes," she answered, although she knew it was rhetorical. She gave him a quick nod before holding the cup with the remains of the coffee. This coffee was good; it would be a shame to waste it. She seated herself down on the couch again and continued to drink. She noted Ritsu staring at her with hatred and malice in his eyes. Well, something along those lines.

"What?" she asked, absentmindedly. Seconds later, Ritsu had 'accidentally' spilt his coffee over her resulting in an astonished look at him.

"I apologise," he told her unapologetically. Well, that was it. The switch had been turned on. Minutes of childish banter and fighting ensued, before Ritsu decided to kick her out. Motioning his head to the door, he indicated for Mizuno to follow. Realising that she was technically an uninvited guest, she obeyed, though rather uncontently. Unlocking his door, he stayed in while Mizuno stood, like him. Red-faced, scuffled clothing and stained clothes. He made a mental note to send his shirt to the drycleaners tomorrow.

"Just what the hell have you two been doing?" Takano demanded, his eyes tired and arms crossed. He'd been working in tranquility for a few minutes before loud noises arose from the apartment next door. What required so much noise? He messily threw on a dark sweater before quietly exiting his apartment temporarily. Planning to kick the door open was his plan. However, he'd been greeted by the faces of two short and angry people. An awkward silence filled the room while Mizuno and Ritsu looked at each other. Both unsure what to say, the former shrugged her shoulders while Ritsu just sighed.

Narrowing his eyes at Takano, Ritsu felt slightly uncomfortable. "Good night," he said half-heartedly, drifting off weakly at the end. Despite it being rude, he closed his door, a bit too hard. He quickly relocked it and he slid down into a crouching position with his head in his hands. What the hell was going on? Emotions he hadn't felt since ten years ago bubbled up, once again. He felt like a love-struck teenager. Ritsu heard muffled voices outside his door, gradually rising. Shakily breathing out, Ritsu slowly went back to a standing position. He made a beeline for his bedroom. Maybe some rest would help him clear his head.

* * *

**B/N:** LindyL and I are ever so sorry for the very late update. It's the holidays now, so we can update much more often. It's just that there was the huge stress of exams during the past few weeks, and we didn't have much time aside from studying to write. We also experienced a bit of writer's block - and we all know how annoying that is. We apologise once more for this inconvenience, and we can assure you all that this won't be happening repeatedly. Thank you for all the support; we really appreciate it. Once again, sorry for the late update and we hope you enjoyed this rather short chapter.

- RosiePosieRW


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